Students listen and respond to the text of Nasreen’s Secret School by Jeanette Winter, a picture book about a school in Afghanistan. This book will set the stage for a discussion around the importance of education and what people can do to promote schooling for all around the world....
Students explore the effects on themselves, the community and the world if the government failed to provide US children with an education.
Students become more aware of the variety of jobs required to run the school. They also demonstrate appreciation for the work of different people through a bulletin board display and respectful behavior.
A positive school climate is made up of people making choices about how to act and treat one another. It is everyone's responsibility to be a good school citizen. Students identify what traits they value most and survey the school population to identify what is going well and what students feel...
Based on the results of the survey, the students determine the top five character traits that need improvement in the school. They design a service plan and make mascots using the engineering design method. The mascots act as advocates for improvement in school climate. This lesson focuses...
Students compare and contrast rules they have in their homes and in the classroom and decide whether good rules must reflect the Core Democratic Values.
In an effort to make an awesome school year, students draft and share a simple book describing the strengths and needs at the school to challenge everyone to make the school great. They learn the importance of community/social capital by building positive experiences with students of...
The purpose of this lesson is to engage the learners in a school wide clean-up event. Learners will be asked to participate and reflect on the activity by creating a heightened awareness of community based environmental issues and how everyone should be good stewards of the Earth.
Students compare and contrast attributes of school systems across the globe. They will work in small groups to identify the successes and possible school improvements in their own school system and in vulnerable schools around the world.
In this lesson, students analyze and define the concept of community. The middle-school students identify their responsibilities for the common good in their role as citizens in the school community. They list ways they can help the younger students enter their school community successfully....